You Can Get Specialty Recovery Rigging Without Guesswork

When you’re on the side of the road, the “best” towing gear is the gear that connects fast, holds right, and doesn’t make you fight it. We sit down with Wes and April Wilburn to talk about what’s changing at TowingEquipmentDirect.com, why their customers keep saying the same thing, and how hands-on product support can be just as valuable as the hardware you’re buying.

We get into the practical stuff tow operators actually care about: specialty chains built for real workflows, hook choices that make securement smoother, and simple rigging upgrades that can save time under pressure. Wes breaks down a few customer-favorite solutions, including V1-style setups that help you build flexible chain bridles, plus strap-chain connectors designed to reduce unnecessary binding while still giving you solid attachment options. If you’ve ever wondered how to choose the right towing and recovery rigging for your day-to-day calls, this conversation makes it easier to think through.

We also talk ordering and fulfillment, including why shipping speed depends on whether an item is in stock, being built in the shop, or drop shipped through distributor relationships. You’ll hear how to reach them for custom chain lengths or specialized configurations, and why their growing library of quick product videos helps operators understand working loads and fit before they buy. We also touch on their broader recovery gear lineup, including synthetic options like wheel straps, tire slings, round slings, and polyester flat recovery straps.

Check out www.towingequipmentdirect.com, use coupon code podcast 10 for 10% off, and call 910-747-9000 if you need something custom. If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a tow buddy, and leave a review so more operators can find the show.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet The Hosts

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Welcome one and all to TonyEquipment Direct.com. This will be a great podcast. I'm DJ Harrington, the Toad Doctor, and we have a 40-year veteran in the industry and his charming wife to help promote this podcast. And without further ado, let me get the 40-year veteran himself, a man who almost has 1,000 training situations, the one and only Wes Wilburn. Wes, how are you today? And how are you charming wife April?

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Doing well. I'll let her speak for herself in a second, but I'm doing well, DJ. That's excellent.

SPEAKER_05 0:48

I know I want to say that. Wes is only a little bit older than I am, but when you say 40-year veteran, man, that sounds old.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

And some of our some of our listeners, April, are older than Wes. I know. We have over 20,000 listeners to this podcast, and I'm gonna tell you, I bet a couple of them are over forty years in the industry.

SPEAKER_05 1:16

I bet we're happy to know a lot of those people that are that have been in the industry for that long for that long and or longer. We're very, very happy to know them. And we're happy to know anybody that's been there for four days, four weeks, four months, four years too. So we're we're we love this community. It's been so wonderful to us and so embracing to us.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

So is this podcast that we're doing, is this a real concentration on Towing Equipment Direct.com and to let our listeners know that you're still at 910-7479000 and tell us a little bit of what's happening.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

Yeah, we're still at that number, we're st still working towing equipment direct. As a matter of fact, uh we're me and April are focusing it on it now. Um, and it's been very exciting to to really get my hands on where I haven't been involved as much. So uh yeah, we're focused on towing equipment direct.com quite a bit. We're putting stuff out on Facebook, special um deals and uh information about some of the rigging products, etcetera.

Trade Show Story And Follow-Up

SPEAKER_05 2:28

And I wanna say that one of the things that Wes is great at is taking something that is a thing and then readapting it to something else. Like a lot of these specialty chains that he does. Uh you can't anybody a lot of people probably can do it but they don't. They just do the cookie cutter stuff. Wes is very, very good at specializing in taking something, looking at it and saying, Let me just do this one or two tweaks with it, that would make it easier for the towing operator when he's out there on the side of the road.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Well, can I ask both of you something? Uh Chuck Camp, the producer of the podcast, and myself were in Tennessee this year, and we went over to see you guys, and the place was jammed. And was so nice, Chuck treated me to a hot dog, and we ate a hot dog together, and we had two or three people come by and said, We saw you over at the sewing equipment direct booth, and I said, Yeah, they want us to make sure we say sewing equipment direct.com booth. Yes. We were there. We were trying to do a podcast from there, but it was so busy, and one lady, April was so nice, she said, the reason why I enjoy Wes and April is because when you buy from them, they follow up, their customer service is excellent. And we enjoy it, the relationship, because we know when you buy from them, they stay with you. It's almost like Wes comes with the product.

SPEAKER_05 4:13

It is a lot like that.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

It is, it is.

SPEAKER_05 4:18

And I used to say that ninety-five percent of the time if you called here you'd get me, but we're probably up to about ninety-nine percent now. What do you think, Wes?

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Yeah, bro.

SPEAKER_05 4:27

Yeah. So and that's what we're uh that's what we're about.

Custom Chain Ideas That Save Time

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Well, I'm gonna tell you, April, it was very nice. It was good to see how many people were around the booth, and that's why Chuck treated me to a hot dog. But then when we got to the hot dog, this lady that sat in the booth next to us. She sat there and she said how much she enjoyed, and she made a comment that it's like get getting Wes and April with the product. So can I ask you, what is one of the best products or favorite product that people have, or what's one of these specialty things that Def Wes does for special customers, and then I find out he does it for all customers.

SPEAKER_05 5:12

Well, and I'm gonna say too about the booth that we had in Tennessee, that was the actual podcast booth. We didn't do a um a product demonstration booth that that year, but that was a podcast booth, and that went over like gangbusters. And um, as always, our producer Chuck Camp made the whole thing go rural fluently. I'm gonna I'm gonna let Wes speak to the product development. When Wes sees something, and when he sees a chain and he sees a hook and he sees an obwong, that's not the only thing that he sees. Sometimes he sees it um if you put a sling hook instead of a grab hook, this would be so much better, so much more convenient. That's the vision that Wes has when he's looking at these items that maybe somebody else doesn't have.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Right. So one thing that's popular is our V1 series where we take an outlong ring and two short lays of chain. It allows you to take your existing chain and your car can make chain brides. It also allows you to make uh connections and that band chain quite as much, which is always a good thing. One of the things that's real popular with this uh another thing is a strap chain connector. This is something that came from an idea from uh one of my associates on the industry. Michael World because I always have uh a mega thing that attaches to a piece of chain with a grab book, so you attach it to uh your chain that you grab the truck frame, etc. with and uh you strap without bringing the chain as much. So those are a couple things that are real hard.

Stock Versus Drop Ship Shipping

SPEAKER_02 6:52

Well, what I wanted to ask you when a person places the order on the number nine one oh seven four seven nine thousand, how many days later could they expect the order?

SPEAKER_05 7:08

So that can vary between us having it in stock and us having it drop ship. Um if we have it in stock, what's is out in what's is out in the shop making it right now for it to ship out today or tomorrow. If it's something that's a standard pull to shelf that one of our um our good our good relationships that we have with um distributors, then it might get dropshipped from there. So that that could vary. But uh really as soon as we can get it out, that's when it comes out. We're as soon as that word comes in, it's a it's our priority for us.

Quick Break And Sponsor Message

SPEAKER_02 7:41

I gotcha. Well, how about this? How about we take a fast commercial break? And then when we come back, we'll learn more about what are some of the key things that all of us need to know about towing equipment direct.com. All nice folks, we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

T-R-A-A-Driver's forum and legislation that makes all of us safer or what makes this industry special. INA totally supports all of us support. What are the rock tests? Together, we all make a difference.

SPEAKER_04 8:24

INA totally networks for electrical vehicles, we have to develop an app that gives you all the factors or the live for what happens.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

We also offer the Apple operator certification.com. 910 7479000. That's 9107479000. We look forward to serving you.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

Welcome back, listeners. You're listening to the Toing Equipment Direct.com podcast with West and April Wilburn, DJ Harrington and Toad Doctor. And please remember that we have informative episodes each and every week. Make sure you download and listen. We're available. Now listen up. We're available on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeartMedia, or wherever you get your podcast. So without further ado, let me pass on over to April Wilburn to tell us a little bit more about TonyEquipment Direct.com.

SPEAKER_05 10:48

Thank you, DJ. Well, the first thing I want to bring up is really about the podcast, and we're in our we've done four years and we're in our fifth. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 10:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 10:59

And we've well over 200 episodes. We have got over 20,000 listeners in all the places that DJ just told you to find us. Please go there and just continue that going on because that has been something that we didn't know could grow as big as it's grown, and it's been kind of been like an organic and natural thing that's happened, and we're just so happy to be part of it. We've met a lot of we've met a lot of great people in doing this, and we've also introduced a lot of great people in this podcast too. So um that's just been a an amazing adventure that we've all been on.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Right.

Coupon Code And Custom Orders

SPEAKER_05 11:34

As far as the website goes, yeah, visit us at www.tonyequipmentdirect.com. We have a lot of great products, and we're also adding um everyday uh products on this website, and we're just building that thing up. And I know that Wes has some more information about that too, where's some more input in that?

SPEAKER_03 11:53

Well, one of the things we want to know that you're listening to the podcast, so use coupon code uh podcast uh 10 and receive 10% off your order at the website. Um also we you can call us the old-fashioned way, but I know a lot of folks don't want to don't take the time to deal with that, and I have total appreciation for that. So you we're automated from our website. Um so if you need what I want to have to do is call the chat number 910-7479000.

SPEAKER_05 12:28

And for that specialized equipment that we talked about earlier, you you can definitely call us at that number. Uh if you need a chain and a certain length or or a a hook, just hook on a that hook, you can give us a call for that too, and we'll accommodate anything fairly reasonable.

Synthetics Line And Social Reels

SPEAKER_03 12:46

We also stock a full line of synthetics, uh wheel swing, tire sling. Uh we have a great brand for that stuff. Uh ground swing, polyester flat recovery trap. We we stock a lot of that type of stuff and can get it get it drop shipped quite quickly as well.

SPEAKER_05 13:08

So I think uh we're looking forward to the extended chapter. It's not a new chapter because we've been doing this for a long time, but it's definitely extended and we're gonna add more, you know, more onto it. Um going down the road and growing this podcast as well.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

April Yeah, what did you guys have on the website that you had over a thousand hits? What was that?

SPEAKER_05 13:34

We actually did a Facebook post and we put they call the kids call it a reel, that's what it's called. A little video. And it's about a minute a little bit it was really up to the second one minute long. And it was foundry hook assembly. And it it was West explaining the different sizes and the different working loads of the foundry hook assemblies and uh over within twenty-four hours, over a thousand people looked at it and it's incredible how somebody could see that and say, Oh, let me watch the whole thing, or or click it. I don't know how it knows if you watched the whole thing or not, but it was just a minute, so they're probably good. We'll be doing more of that too.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

That's excellent.

SPEAKER_05 14:14

All right, everybody visit us at uh telequipment direct.com or give me a call. 9107479000. I'd love to hear from you. And I'm gonna say good night, Gracie. That's what uh George Burns used to tell uh Gracie, right?

unknown 14:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Oh yeah, I sure do. Him smoking his cigar saying, Good night, Gracie. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:37

Good night, Gracie. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Yeah, that's how they ended the show.

SPEAKER_05 14:42

All right. Till next time we'll we'll till next time, give us a listen.